Tag Archives: magazine

Sometimes, in this weird world just filled with people looking to ‘take down your personal brand’ a little light shines in the darkness (via an email Subject: Delivery at Reception. ta). And the delivery turns out to be a box of DVDs, some of which were designed specifically for OCD home-consumption (for eg. Flashdance starring Jennifer Beale as “Alex Owens” in the 1983 hit). Did y’als know I was born in 1983? I haven’t even watched Flashdance. I have a feeling (What a feeling!) it’s gonna change my (branded) life 4 eva y’als.

What. A. Feeling. Y. 'ulz.

But that’s not all. Cleverly, there were a selection of movies, each ‘strategically chosen to represent the core values that represent the Women’s Health brand and how it relates 2 its consumers via demonstrating its relevance via each moviestrategically chosen to represent the core values that represent the Women’s Health brand and how it relates 2 its consumers via demonstrating its relevance via each moviestrategically chosen to represent the core values that represent the Women’s Health brand and how it relates 2 its consumers via

Whoa

Did you see wha just happened there?

UR brand 4 eva

I just made an infinity loop with a positioning statement leading into a USP. I am basically an “Ad Escher bro”“trapped in a never-ending world of targeted touchpoints”. Jees Y’als. Thought this post was gonna be about something simple, like MOVIES. Welcome 2 da night train bros.

Can almost smell this y'ulz

Back to the point: yesterday the heavens opened and the skies rained down

Movies y'als!

Super amped about all this. Not kidding when I say the only one of these I’ve actually seen is The Notebook & Something About Mary (1983 remember…) basically had a life-changing experience last night when I watched Breakfast At Tiffany’s and I found out the lead character is a ‘lady of the night’ – did y’als know that? Thought it ironic that an image of a woman who has ‘become synonymous with class’ is actually a ‘portrait of a prozzie bro’. Love the world y’ulz, always filled with surprisies!

Anyways just wanted 2 say thanks to Woman’s Health for the gift. Getting a box of movies was enough to make me ‘seriously consider reading your mag’ (via reading it). Actually read the whole thing and have also changed my leg routine to Backwards Thigh Extensions over Lunges & Squats which is what I have been doing to keep my thighs in Beyonce, all based on the nifty tear-outs. Thanks y’als. Thanks thanks.

came across an amazing collection of scanned magazines from the 50s. it’s made my mouth water. i’d love to have a party and tell my friends to dress up like this and then take stupid amounts of digital pics and apply delicious fat bands of colour to them. i just might.

as some of you may know, i have left facebook. not completely – i haven’t deleted my account – but i won’t be logging in again any time soon, and i have joined the Facebook Suicide cult which means from 12 December you will no longer be able to write on my wall or send me your stupid applications. which begs the questions….

“But Alex, how will this affect your online presence? Isn’t deleting your facebook taking a huge swipe at all the hard blogging you’ve done so far? Can you still be a credible new media consultant without a facebook account? You must be hanging out online SOMEWHERE, so where is it?”

My answer to this relevant line of questioning would be:

Facebook is for laggards. If you don’t know what laggards are, here’s a handy little graph all of us fall onto in some way, whether you like it or not.

This could be you.

Before you start telling me how unique you are and how you don’t buy into society’s idea of who you are and what other people think, let me stop you by saying, i don’t give a shit, because every product you ever buy and every service you ever buy into and every magazine you pick up and read or even gloss over, will place you somewhere on one of these graphs. denying it would be like denying god, or jacob zuma. you might not agree with them, or like them, but they are as real as the macbook you’re staring at. and now you know.

Question: For those of you who ARE concerned with where you fall on Roger’s Curve of Adoption, do you think it’s only right for companies and services to place a warning on what they’re selling, kind of like the health warnings on cigarette packs?

What? You just dropped 2k on these? Sucks for you. Don't you remember Fergie singing about these babies way back when? "Seven Jeans, True Religion, I say no but they keep giving." That was back when she was still part of Black Eyed Peas. That was MY HUMPS. Almost 3 years ago. And you thought they would make you cool? Don't say you didn't, because how else do you explain dropping 2k on jeans? It's okay. If anyone notices just say you're 'going retro for summer'. Also, if you bring up the 'Being uncool is the new cool trend' in conversation while wearing these you might be able to loop yourself back in time to early majority. But be warned - that's only going to keep you safe for about a month before you're right back in late majority. Trends move fast, yo.

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BACK TO THE TOPIC:

So, as i was saying, I’m not on facebook. And I’ve given you my reason. So I guess the new question is WHERE ARE THE INNOVATORS RIGHT NOW? They’re here.

Even though this moment this post goes live, they will have to find somewhere else to be. But hey. Sometimes its good to take a break from innovating and just sit pretty like bullfrogs in the crisp cool waters of the Early Majority Pool. We’ll have about 6 months in there before the Late Majorities start peeing in it, and then the neighbourhood will eventually go stale as the Laggards move in, bring their waterwinged kids and coolerboxes full of the Diesel SFW XXX video. Enjoy it while it lasts.

so we held our first round of experimental ‘idea altruism’ talks – a lot of fancy words to describe an informal get-together where inspiring young people share their work, ideas, dreams and opinions in an environment that is non-judgemental. we held it at the office, and our first speakers were Brad Armitage – he of Vida e Caffe fame, Guiseppe Russo – owner and founder of One Small Seed magazine and Khaya Nongalaza – manager and part owner of Maphindi’s hotspot in Nyanga township. to say the least, it was inspiring, and although we weren’t sure what we were doing with the evening, it turned out really well.

here’s the flyer:

we had a few issues – such as not having a neutral timer to keep speeches short (the idea is that everyone has 6 minutes in which to speak but we all ran hopelessly overtime). and we didn’t order enough pizza since we had a bigger turnout than we initially thought, but it was really great to see people who are so different at first appearance connect through a shared mindset, which is totally our objective. we’re hoping to have IG Assembly once a month, alternating in Joburg and Cape Town, so we’re busy planning Jozi as i write this. some pics from the evening:

grant from B-Boy group Ill Rock taught us about the history of b-boys, break beats and how it’s not just dancing, but high-performance athleticism.

Guiseppe Russo told us about his vision for One Small Seed in South Africa, and about how we need to set a standard and not settle for second best, just because we’re in South Africa.

Brad Armitage told us how he and his partner set up coffee legend Vida e Caffe, with a dream and ever-zealous perfectionism. we can all be grateful to him for Meia de Leits. he also spoke about his new premium beer projects he’s been working on, packaged in champagne bottles. awesome. you can buy them at Vida.

the crowd, listening.

some pre-talk dance moves went down.

Paul van der Spuy spoke about some of his past projects, as well as his new venture – Speed Way Cafe, which draws inspiration from the Ace Cafe biker bar in england.

tore this out of last month’s elle. a collaboration between local designer Morgan and Opel Corsa. one of those ideas that looks great in positioning and strategy documents but then looks like a strategy document once executed. any thoughts?